


Vex Watches

by TwinVax



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, Observations, Vex'ahlia-centric, gnome characteristics, none human differences, shes very observant, the difference between gnomes and other races
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-16 02:51:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13044975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwinVax/pseuds/TwinVax
Summary: It takes Vex an embarrassing amount of time to notice, but once she does, she can't help but watch her gnome companions. The difference between them and her are, after all, quite different.





	Vex Watches

It takes her an embarrassing amount of time to notice. Though she could possibly be excused as she has only ever met a few gnomes in her life, and never for long periods of time, when she lived in Syngorn with some dignitary types. She does take notice of some peculiar characteristics of the gnome members in her adventuring group with time, that are interesting enough to catalog and pay mind to. 

Scanlan’s attention to conversations was frightfully terrible, and he didn’t notice obvious things in front of him besides, but that wasn’t particularly interesting enough to consider. No, what made her interested was she found he would sometimes pick up on nearby sounds and shift focus to that, without turning to listen or look at what was making the noise. His head cocked to the side, his ears would twitch, swiveling around in small movements as he listened, following the sounds wherever the creature making them decided to move. 

Ears being able to move wasn’t new to her, the few species on Exandria unable to do such an action being humans and dwarves, but it was usually restricted to twitching, from elves she managed to make show any emotion that was more then just disdain. It never extended to full range of motion like Trinket was capable of, and she and her brother could only just barely manage twitches when they tried. 

As far as ears went, it appeared gnomes had full versatility of movement in that regard, though not at the same level as animals were gifted with, it was near enough. It was only one observation Vex was able to make based on a single gnome out of the many, but she considered it something to look out for if she met another. Just to make sure if it was a singular event or something most shared. 

Regardless of her reasoning, it gave her something interesting to look out for. A chance to spot how many differences she could see and take note of. Being able to tell where a sound came from was a useful trait, and it surely wasn’t unwanted. 

Pike joining the party yielded her more information on gnome characteristics. It certainly laid to rest her curiosity on gnomish ears. Pike’s moved with her every expression, and almost never seemed to stop. It was fairly easy for Vex to figure out how she was feeling based on the movements of her ears, and it seemed Pike liked it that way. Scanlan had more restraint, frustratingly enough, keeping most emotion from his ears. 

Vex thought it was a bit creepy how big both of their eyes were, that that trait wasn’t just a Scanlan thing. Large eyes that took up more of both gnomes faces that were bigger then her own or any other species she had previously met before. 

She watched Pike during the first week of knowing her, noting some things that she had of her appearance that Scanlan either lacked or hid fairly well. Her teeth were sharp, not as sharp as Trinket’s, but sharp enough to imply the main food source for a gnome had to be meat wherever they may originate from. Like a pretty shark. 

Less like a shark, though very unpleasant and catlike when applied to her own skin, Pike’s fingernails were basically claws. Finding that out would have been much nicer if the fact hadn’t been unearthed when the gnome in question had stuck to her shoulder after being thrown there by some monster, before Pike had used her body as a springboard to get back into the fight. 

In Scanlan’s less observant moments, like when it was closer to nightfall or when he was already asleep in his bedroll and she was taking watch, she had checked. His nails weren’t sharp, but knowing he owned and used a nail file, it wasn’t to difficult to know what it was for. His teeth though, when she could see them during the times he would snore, were sharp, just like Pikes own. 

She’d seen him smile more then once in the light of day, he had never had sharp teeth like that, and knew he had to be hiding such things with his magic. 

She didn’t mention it to anyone else, but she filed it away as something curious. 

It was much more difficult to track their reactions and habits without tipping them off that she was doing so, but she managed. Though the only notable difference was that they acted like heat leaching cats towards anyone who might be warmer, though especially Grog. 

She’s woken up many times to see Pike sleeping on top of Grog’s chest, and a few times to Scanlan or Pike huddled against her side, if it was a particularly cold night that the Goliath was accustomed and seemed to thrive in.

There were other things different in how they did things, but Vex, by that point, had stopped looking for them. She no longer had a need to analyze and know everything about something to feel secure, especially not if it was family. 

It didn’t, however, stop her from watching. 

**Author's Note:**

> I liked the idea of other species in d&d having different biological differences to humans, and gnomes seemed like the best start since they aren't half human themselves. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed Vex being her usual amazing self!


End file.
